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| Graduate students Sam Buzuleciu (M.S. 2014) and Beckett Hills (M.S. 2015) conducting diamondback terrapin research in the Hobcaw Barony Ecological Reserve, North Inlet, SC. |
Populations of the estuarine turtle, the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin centrata) are declining over much of their geographic range due to habitat loss, commercial harvesting , mortality in abandoned crab pots, and nest predation by native and introduced mammalian predators. Diamondback terrapins are unique among turtles in that they are the only species endemic to coastal salt marshes, estuaries, and tidal creeks of the eastern and Gulf regions of the United States. Relatively little is known about the reproductive biology and nesting ecology of diamondback terrapins, particularly in South Carolina. The overall aims of the project is to better understand diamondback terrapin spatial ecology, habitat use, and reproducitve biology.